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Remember what Papa Stalin said: "Quantity has a quality all its own". 1 million guardsmen, because there would have to be an officer in there SOMEWHERE to lead the men. 1 Space Marine would be awesome, and I do like me some space marines, but 1 man can do little in a war.

This question can be easily answered with an even simpler question:

How many bolt rounds do you think a Marine has?

I would chose 1 million guardsem unless it was shrike or corax then I would go for the marine

DorianGray wrote:Lasgun shots cannot kill space marines.

A single lasgun shot can decapitate a Marine.

It may take a thousand landed shots before one penetrates, but they eventually will, and the marine will die. Even if he manages to take out a few hundred, or even a few thousand guardsmen, the force of Guardsmen maintains its fighting capabilities afterwards.

If the space marine was Calgar.

He could kill a million men and then some. He is war incarnate no mortal can kill him. Did you know he single handily killed an Eldar Avatar?

Just read the fluff that Matt Ward wrote in Codex Space Marines to read about how awesome they are.

ChrisWWII wrote:

Sir Pseudonymous wrote:
Weren't hellguns just slightly upgraded but otherwise normal lasguns, whereas "hotshot" lasguns have a shorter range but more power (however that's supposed to work, since more energy should mean less diffusion at range...)?

Hmm... "The hot-shot lasgun uses a more powerful, external energy cell. This allows the hellgun to project a more powerful, and more penetrating, shot." So... are the terms are meant to be interchangeable, did the author copy-paste the old hellgun entry and forget to change it to say "hot-shot lasgun", or is the hotshot lasgun is a modified hellgun?

As far as I know, the hot shot packs are special packs issued to snipers so that their shots have more power against enemys. They are fitted into an otherwise normal lasgun. A hellgun is a special weapon issued to Storm Troopers and other such elite forces that trades range for much grreater armor penetration.

And no, Cruddace decided to change the badass sounding hellgun to the no so badass sounding hot shot lasgun. The only way it could get a worse name is if he announced that it would be pronounce LAYZgun instead of LAZgun.

Hmm... Dark Heresy has hot-shot charges, which are one shot clips that slightly increase the power of the shot, give it armor penetrating power, and roll 2d10 pick the highest for damage. The only hellgun that I can find is exactly the same as a normal lasgun, only it has a smaller clip and an armor penetration value. The DH codex lists a hellgun as a 24" S3 AP5 rapid fire weapon, while the IG codex has hotshot lasguns as 18" S3 AP3 rapid fire weapons...

DorianGray wrote:If the space marine was Calgar.

He could kill a million men and then some. He is war incarnate no mortal can kill him. Did you know he single handily killed an Eldar Avatar?

Just read the fluff that Matt Ward wrote in Codex Space Marines to read about how awesome they are.

Now I change my vote, I wish to have 1 million guardsmen (and women, because there are females in the guard) and turn them all to chaos... and then I will create chaos champions out of these cultists and I will have enought chaos soldiers to take over- maybe a city, maybe.... why does it take so many lives to conquer anything in 40k?

ChrisWWII wrote:

DorianGray wrote:If the space marine was Calgar.

He could kill a million men and then some. He is war incarnate no mortal can kill him. Did you know he single handily killed an Eldar Avatar?

Just read the fluff that Matt Ward wrote in Codex Space Marines to read about how awesome they are.

Also my plan will involve trying to get cultists like these... cuz they rule

1 million guardsmen.

After they've diced the incoming they can put on a light show that would make Pink Floyd green with envy with those lasguns

On a similarly geeky note -

at the end of Return of the Jedi how come the starfighters for the rebellion had fireworks loaded up? Were they THAT confident of winning that they brought celebration equipment with them?

Can I take Calgar with his landraider? lol.

and wtf since when can Calgar not be killed by a mortal? a basic guardsmen that shoots him point blank in the face with a las cannon or even a heavy bolter round would kill him. he is still flesh and bone no matter how you look at it. if a bolter can kill another space marine then a anti tank gun to the face can still kill a space marine hero.

just like the Eisenhorn book when he is being controlled by that Alpha psyker girl. he shoots a marine in the face with a bolt pistol and blows his whole face off killing him instantly.

hmmm let me see...

A space marine will take out five necrons alone if he's lucky.

A million orginized guardsmen will eat them for breakfast and then will launch a mini crusade and THEN TAKE BACK THE SYSTEM!

so hard to choose...

DorianGray wrote:If the space marine was Calgar.

And if every single one of the Guardsmen was Yarrick...

Thread is weird

A space marine with unlimited bolter rounds.

Melissia wrote:

DorianGray wrote:If the space marine was Calgar.

And if every single one of the Guardsmen was Yarrick...

... or Marbo

The guard.
Why?
Because 1 marine can't be all over Ireland at once.
When I use my million men to take it over and set up my crazy dictatorship,I'll need a million men to,lets say "silience the opposition".

Lol.

I always got the impression the Irish were really, REALLY good at resisting being ruled by anyone they didn't want to be ruled by.

1 million Kasrkin!! Maybe 1 million guards men piloting Leman Russ battle tanks.

I'd take 100 Guardsmen over a single Space Marine, and this would at least spark some discussion.

A million? In a battle situation as described above? The OP is either 12 or trollin.

ChrisWWII wrote:HELLGUNS. HELLGUNS! I refuse to call them 'hot shot lasguns'.

Kudos points to you, good sir.

It all depends on the job that needs doing. If I had to quickly assassinate a key target or have a point of interest quickly captured or destroyed, I'd take the Marine.

But if I needed a full-scale battle fought, I'd take the gaurdsmen.

Emperors Faithful wrote:I'd take 100 Guardsmen over a single Space Marine, and this would at least spark some discussion.

A million? In a battle situation as described above? The OP is either 12 or trollin.

ChrisWWII wrote:HELLGUNS. HELLGUNS! I refuse to call them 'hot shot lasguns'.

Kudos points to you, good sir.

Actually the OP is referring to "outnumbered 1 million to 1" quote in the IG Codex and at the very beginning of the Imperial Guard Novels. It official fluff fact: There are literally 1 million guardsmen to 1 space marine.

100 guardsmen wouldn't have a chance against the Space Marine unless they get off a ridiculously lucky shot. The Space Marine just needs to get in Assault and the rest of the guard cannot shoot him until he wipes out that entire squad.

Emperors Faithful wrote:I'd take 100 Guardsmen over a single Space Marine, and this would at least spark some discussion.

A million? In a battle situation as described above? The OP is either 12 or trollin.

Agreed.



I vote for the Space Marine.

In depends entirely on situation, but in the scenario described I would rather the Guardsmen. While an Astartes is superhuman, to say the least, they would eventually be over-run by superior numbers against a force of Tyranids or Necrons, especially if forced into a static defense. The Imperial Guard are certainly better equiped to handle defending the town, opposed to the quick-strike surgical tactics of the Emperors Finest.

If I was looking at the scenario most of the thread seems to be, that of the Space Marine taking on the Guardsmen, it would be different, but again depending on scenario. 1,000,000 Imperial Guard taking on an Astartes in a straight up, head to head fight? The Imperial Guard are obviously going to come out on top.

The Imperial Guard manning a world, and the Space Marine waging a guerilla 'shadow war' against them, striking and removing squads, officers and vehicles through stealth, surprise and sabotage? I think the Astartes might just be able to take it through a combination of loss of morale, supporting equipment/staff and experienced officers....perhaps. Certainly wouldn't be a forgone conclusion at any rate.

Melissia wrote:

DorianGray wrote:If the space marine was Calgar.

And if every single one of the Guardsmen was Yarrick...

And what if the Space Marine is Commander Boreale?

Problem is, if there's still just one Marine then all it takes is for ONE Guardsmen to get off a lucky shot with his lasgun. Or one good missile shot or something, and the Marine is gone. Sure the Guard might lose a few dozen people and a few tanks, but I sincerely doubt ONE Marine could take on a million man occupation force.

DorianGray wrote:100 guardsmen wouldn't have a chance against the Space Marine unless they get off a ridiculously lucky shot. The Space Marine just needs to get in Assault and the rest of the guard cannot shoot him until he wipes out that entire squad.

In all honesty, no. Do you think the real Imperial Guard cares about the lives of its soldiers enough? Not shooting into CC is a game mechanic. If the Marine tried it in reality? Well, the Imperial Guard would probably send in MORE squads while the local commander lined of a Basilisk shot....

Besides, 100 Guardsmen? Against one Marine? One of them WILL get off a lucky shot, or get a lucky bayonet thrust or something. Quality is usually better than quantity in a military sense....but when you outnumber the enemy so completely like the Imperial Guard does? Well then....Stalin's quote starts to become true.

Remember, in World War II the Werhmacht outfought the Soviets man to man, squad to squad, etc. etc. However, sheer overwhelming numbers helped to carry the day. (Among other factors of courese)

Lets say they were fighting Tyranids, which coincidentally have numbers, id go with the million guardsmen. If anyone has read the Ultramarine Series, them Space Marines die easily. Numbers against Numbers, Il go with a million guardsmen. Morever, theres a saying one in a million, so im sure in that million, theres bound to be some kinda genius.

Maybe--dare I say--some kind of...TACTICAL genius?

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED

100 guardsmen wouldn't have a chance against the Space Marine unless they get off a ridiculously lucky shot. The Space Marine just needs to get in Assault and the rest of the guard cannot shoot him until he wipes out that entire squad.

Unless you fluff is written by Dan Abnett, 12 vs 5 in a guardsmen vs CSM battle and the guard take no losses while killing all five CSMs...

either they got extremely lucky or there is more to 40k than the stupid codex rules

Maybe--dare I say--some kind of...TACTICAL genius?

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111

And if every single one of the Guardsmen was Yarrick...

or trooper Mkvenner....

Just try sending the inquisitors out to contact THAT army of guardsmen, it'll never happen